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4 <br /> Page 1 of 5 Benjamin (BJ) Warshaw <br /> Volunteer Application <br /> Orange County Advisory Boards and Commissions <br /> Name: Benjamin (BJ) Warshaw <br /> Name Called: <br /> Home Address: 1439 Smith Level Rd. <br /> Chapel Hill NC 27516 <br /> Phone: 917-620-4969 <br /> Email: benjarwar@gmail.com <br /> Year of OC Residence: 2015 <br /> Township of Residence: Chapel Hill <br /> Zone of Residence: Chapel Hill ETJ <br /> Gender Identity: Male <br /> Ethnic Background: White <br /> Age Range: 35-59 <br /> Community Activities/Organizational Memberships: <br /> - LEVEL retreat (co-owner/founder, grassroots artist residency) <br /> - Southern Entryway Alliance (founding member, neighborhood group focused on issues <br /> around development in and around the Southern ETJ of Chapel Hill) <br /> - Orange County Arts Commission (panelist, 2023-2024 Visual Artist Grants) <br /> - Cosmic Rays (sponsor, local experimental film festival) <br /> - Orange County Dems (member, former GoTV volunteer, web consultant) <br /> - COVID Tracking Project (volunteer web development, data visualization) <br /> Past Service on Orange County Advisory Boards: <br /> N/A <br /> Boards/Commissions applied for: <br /> Chapel Hill Planning Commission <br /> Please explain how your background, education and experience is relevant to this board <br /> My wife and I moved to Chapel Hill in 2015 in pursuit of a better life. We had been living in New <br /> Jersey, and before that metropolises (I in Brooklyn, she in Chicago). We had tired of big city life, <br /> and longed for a community where we could put down roots and start a rural artist retreat and <br /> farm. We're proud to say LEVEL retreat, our artist residency and goat farm, is now entering its <br /> eighth year. We love our new home, and plan to live out our days on Smith Level Road (where, <br /> perhaps, you have driven by and seen our goats lounging or playing on a giant trampoline). <br /> I consider myself a cultural polyglot, a lover of knowledge and learning. During my <br /> undergraduate studies at Tufts University, I opted for a major in English (BA, 1998) mostly <br /> because it had the fewest number of requirements, which allowed me to pursue various interests <br /> in addition to literature: sociology, film, music, computer science, feminism, and post-structural <br /> critical theory. <br /> After graduation, I moved to Williamsburg, Brooklyn, where I became active in the <br /> independent/DIY art and music scene. For over a decade, I toured in a rock band I co-founded <br /> called Parts & Labor. This experience took me to every corner of the United States (I have <br />